קָרָא בְ to call on some one, נִשְׁבַּע בְּ iurare per aliquem, שָׁאַל בְּ to enquire of some one. Again; רָאָה בְ to look upon, שָׁמַע בְּ to hearken to (but cf. also m), generally with the secondary idea of participation, or of the pleasure with which one sees or hears anything, especially pleasure at the misfortunes of others, hence רָאָה בְ to see his desire on any one or anything; cf. however, Gn 21 let me not look upon the death of the child; 1 S 6 because they had looked [irreverently] at the ark of the Lord.
Closely related to this is the use of בְּ:
[l] (3) To introduce the person or thing, which is the object of a mental act, e.g. הֶֽאֱמִין בְּ to trust in (to cleave trustingly to) somebody or something; בָּטַח בְּ to have confidence in...; שָׂמַח בְּ to rejoice in or at something, &c.; דִּבֶּר בְּ to speak of (about) some one or something, Dt 6, 1 S 19, &c.
[m] (4) The idea of an action as extending to something, with at the same time the secondary idea of participation in something, underlies finally the partitive use of בְּ, e.g. אָכַל בְּ to share in eating something, Ex 12, Lv 22; also simply to eat, to taste of something, Ju 13, Jb 21; so also לָחַם בְּ to eat of, and שָׁתָה בְ[1] to drink of something, Pr 9; שָׁמַע בְּ to hear a whisper of something, Jb 26; מָצָא בְּ they found remaining of her only..., 2 K 9; נָשָׂא בְ to bear a share of something, Nu 11, Ez 18, Jb 7. Cf. also חָלַק בְּ to give a share of something, Jb 39; בָּנָח בְ to do building to, Neh 4.
[n] (5) With the idea of touching, striking against anything is naturally connected that of proximity and vicinity near, and further that of association with something; cf. Gn 9 בְּנַפְשׁוֹ with the life thereof; 15:14, 32:11 בְּמַקְלִי with my staff. Sometimes בְּ combined with a verb of motion (to come with something), expresses the idea of bringing, e.g. Ju 15 Samson visited his wife with a kid, i.e. he brought her a kid; Dt 23, ψ 66, 1 Ch 15 ff., 16:6.
[o] (6) From the idea of connexion with something, being accompanied by something (see n), is developed, finally, the instrumental use of בְּ, which represents the means or instrument (or even the personal agent), as something with which one has associated himself in order to perform an action; cf. Mi 4 בַּשֵּׁ֫בֶט they smite with the rod; Is 10; ψ 18 בְּךָ by thee (so also 44:6, parallel with בְּשִׁמְךָ); Is 10, Ho 1, 12; cf. also עָבַד בְּ to labour by means of some one, i.e. to cause him to labour at it, Ex 1, &c. On בְּ with the passive to introduce the means or the author, see § 121 f.
[p] A variety of the בְּ instrumenti is ב pretii (the price being considered as the means of acquiring a thing), cf. Gn 23, 29 (בְּרָחֵל); 30:16, 33:19, 34:15 (בְּזֹאת on this condition); 37:28; also, in a wider sense, Gn 18 בְּ for the sake of; 1 S 3.
[q] Rem. The use of בְּ instrumenti to introduce the object is peculiar in such expressions as ψ 44 and thou coveredst over us בְּצַלְמָ֫וֶת with the shadow of death; Jb 16 פָּֽעֲרוּ עָלַי בְּפִיהֶם they have opened wide their mouth against me (prop. have made an opening with their mouth); cp. ψ 22, Ex 7 he lifted up בַּמַּטֶּה the rod; Lv 16 חָגַר and צָנַף followed by בְּ; Jos 8, La 1. Analogous to some English expressions we find both to gnash the teeth, ψ 35, and to gnash with the teeth, Jb 16; to wink the eye, Pr 10, and to wink with the eye, Pr 6; shake the head, ψ 22, and to shake with the head, Jer 18, Jb 16.—In all these instances
